St. George (Tyrone House)
The St.George estate was centred on the house at Tyrone, parish of Drumacoo, barony of Dunkellin, built about 1779. This had originally been a French estate but the family assumed the title of St.George in 1774 due to inheritence from the St.George family of Hatley Manor, county Leitrim. In the 1830s A.F. St. George owned Tyrone House and Kilcolgan Castle, his agent was J. O'Hara. Wm. Griffith of Dublin also acted as an agent for the St. George estate. Arthur French St. George is described as a resident proprietor in 1824. In the early 19th century the St. Georges also owned large amounts of land in the baronies of Moycullen, Ballynahinch and Clare, which they advertised for sale in the early 1850s. Land in the barony of Clare had been acquired through Arthur French's marriage with a Kirwan in the late 17th century. A portion of the St. George estate, situated in the barony of Longford, was offered for sale in the Encumbered Estates court in November 1853. In 1870s the family owned 15,777 acres in county Galway. By the early 1900s, however, some of the estate had been sold and the house at Tyrone had been left empty for long periods. In 1914 over 3000 acres of an estate descibed as St. George and Concannon was vested in the Congested Districts Board. Many members of the family are buried in a church-style mausoleoum in the cemetery at Drumacoo.
Associated Families
Houses
| Name | Townland | Civil Parish | PLU | DED | Barony | County | Map Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyrone | Tyrone | Drumacoo | Gort | Drumacoo 104 | Dunkellin | Galway |
OSI Ref: M390177
OS Sheet: 103 Discovery map: 52 |
|
| Kilcolgan Castle | Kilcolgan | Kilcolgan | Gort | Drumacoo 104 | Dunkellin | Galway |
OSI Ref: M413180
OS Sheet: 103 Discovery map: 52 |
|
| Newtown Kilcolgan | Newtown Kilcolgan | Kilcolgan | Gort | Drumacoo 104 | Dunkellin | Galway |
OSI Ref: M417174
OS Sheet: 103 Discovery map: 52 |
|
| Ballyclery | Ballyclery | Killeenavarra | Gort | Killeenavarra 105 | Dunkellin | Galway |
OSI Ref: M391120
OS Sheet: 113 Discovery map: 52 |
|
| Stradbally | Stradbally West | Stradbally | Gort | Drumacoo 104 | Dunkellin | Galway |
OSI Ref: M389178
OS Sheet: 103 Discovery map: 52 |
|
| Quainsborough/Quansbury Lodge/Stowlin | Stowlin | Kilquain | Portumna | Kilquain 175 | Longford | Galway |
OSI Ref: M855148
OS Sheet: 107, 108 Discovery map: 53 |
|
| Seapark House | Ballycleary | Kinvarradoorus | Gort | Killeenavarra | Kiltartan | Galway |
OSI Ref: M384109
OS Sheet: 113 Discovery map: 52 |
|
Archival sources
- Encumbered Estates’ Court Rentals (O’Brien), St. George [Ballynahinch estate], 25 Oct 1853, Vol 24, MRGS 39/010, (microfilm copy in NUIG); National Archives of Ireland
- Encumbered Estates’ Court Rentals (O’Brien), St. George [Moycullen estate I], 25 Oct 1853, Vol 24, MRGS 39/010, (microfilm copy in NUIG); National Archives of Ireland
- Encumbered Estates’ Court Rentals (O’Brien), St. George [Moycullen estate II], 25 Oct 1853, Vol 24, MRGS 39/010, (microfilm copy in NUIG); National Archives of Ireland
- Encumbered Estates’ Court Rentals (O’Brien), St. George, 27 Feb 1855, Vol 33, MRGS 39/015, (microfilm copy in NUIG); National Archives of Ireland
- Deeds & legal papers relating to properties in Leitrim, Roscommon and Galway, 1695-1731. ; National Archives, UK
- Encumbered Estates’ Court Rentals (O’Brien), St. George [Clare & Dunmore estate], 25 Oct 1853, Vol 24, MRGS 39/010, (microfilm copy in NUIG); National Archives of Ireland
- Encumbered Estates’ Court Rentals (O’Brien), Matthew St. George, [Castle & lands at KilcolganI], 6 Dec 1853, Vol 25, MRGS 39/011, (microfilm copy in NUIG); National Archives of Ireland
- Encumbered Estates’ Court Rentals (O’Brien), St. George, 22 November 1853, Vol 25, MRGS 39/011, (microfilm copy in NUIG); National Archives of Ireland
- Encumbered Estates Court Rental, St George, 27 Feb 1855, baronies of Ballynahinch, Moycullen & Clare. Photocopy; Galway County Library
- Kilcolgan Castle. Photographs & Press Cuttings. 045/078.; Irish Architectural Archive
- Tyrone House. Photographs & Press Cuttings. 001/025; Irish Architectural Archive
- Survey by John Berne of the estate of Christopher St. George in counties Galway & Roscommon. ; Galway County Library
- Pedigree of French of Tyrone, afterwards St. George. c.1575-1816. GO Ms.106, p117, 125-6. ; National Library of Ireland
- Licence to Arthur French St. George to bear the name St. George. 1811. GO Ms. 150, p.128-30 153-4. ; National Library of Ireland
Contemporary printed sources
- PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. ''Return of owners of land of one acre and upwards, in the several counties .... in Ireland''. HC 1876, LXXX: 299
- ''GRIFFITH'S VALUATION OF IRELAND'[Primary Valuation of Tenements]', 1850-1858. : Gort Union, 101, 103, 105, 129.
- LEET, Ambrose. ''A directory to the market towns, villages, gentlemen's seats, and other noted places in Ireland''. Dublin: Printed by B. Smith, 1814 : 382
- LEWIS, Samuel. ''A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland''. London: S. Lewis & Co., 1837: Vol I, 502 & Vol II, 64.
- HUSSEY DE BURGH, U. H. ''The Landowners of Ireland. An alphabetical list of the owners of estates of 500 acres or £500 valuation and upwards in Ireland''. Dublin: Hodges, Foster and Figgis, 1878. [available online at www.askaboutireland.ie] : 400.
- TAYLOR, George & SKINNER, Andrew. ''Maps of the Roads of Ireland, surveyed in 1777 and corrected down to 1783''. Facsimile of 2nd edition. Shannon: Irish University Press, 1969: 201.
- DUTTON, Hely. ''Statistical and agricultural survey of the county of Galway''. Dublin: Royal Dublin Society, 1824. : 415
- PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. ''15th Annual Report of the Commissioners of Public Records Ireland,'' 1825. Vol XVI, Appendix I, Grants under Acts of Settlement: 257
- PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. ''24th Annual Report of the Congested Districts' Board for Ireland'', [Cd 8356], HC 1916, vi, 564-586. Appendix VIII: 44.
- ORDNANCE SURVEY NAME BOOKS, County Galway, http://places.galwaylibrary.ie/default.html: Drumacoo Parish
- ORDNANCE SURVEY NAME BOOKS, County Galway, http://places.galwaylibrary.ie/default.html: Kilcolgan Parish
- ORDNANCE SURVEY NAME BOOKS, County Galway, http://places.galwaylibrary.ie/default.html: Ballynacourty Parish
- SLATER, Isaac. ''Royal National Directory of Ireland: List of the principal seats''. (Manchester: 1894) : xxviii & 60 (Kilcolgan House)
Modern printed sources
- BURKE, Sir Bernard. ''A genealogical and heraldic history of the Landed Gentry of Ireland''. London: Harrison & Sons, 1912: 619.
- SPELLISSY, Séan. ''The History of Galway''. Limerick: Celtic Bookshop, 1999. : 295
- GLIN, Knight of, GRIFFIN, D. J. & ROBINSON, N.K (eds).'' Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland''. Dublin: Irish Architectural Archive/Irish Georgian Society, 1989. : 78.
- MELVIN, Patrick. The Galway Tribes as Landowners and Gentry. In MORAN, Gerard (ed). ''Galway: History & Society''. Dublin: Geography Publications, 1996 : 319-374
- LANE, Pádraig. The Encumbered Estates Court and Galway Land Ownership, 1849-58. In MORAN, Gerard (ed). ''History & Society''. Dublin: Geography Publications, 1996 : 395-419
- ''The Irish Genealogist'': KEEGAN, Mary. Index to persons in Household Account Book kept by Christopher St. George of Kilcolgan Castle, Oranmore, Co. Galway, 1 Jan. 1810-29 Dec. 1819. VII (1986-1989), 101-112
- MARSDEN, Simon & McLAREN, Duncan. . ''In ruins: the once great houses of Ireland''. Boston: Little Brown & Co, 1997. : 58-59.
- BENCE-JONES, Mark. ''A Guide to Irish Country Houses''. Revised ed. London: Constable, 1988. : 165 (Kilcolgan) & 279 (Tyrone)
- ''Bulletin of the Irish Georgian Society'': KENNEDY, Dorothy A. The Big House in Irish literature. XXXII (1989), 6-30.
- ''Bulletin of the Irish Georgian Society'': St. GEORGE MARK, Gordon. Tyrone House. XIX, 3-4 (1976), 23-69.
- ''Jnl. of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society'': The French Family Pedigree – a correction. XXIII (1948-1949), 161-163
- CRAIG, Maurice & Craig, Michael. ''Mausolea Hibernica''. Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1999. : 102-103
- MELVIN, Patrick. ''Estates and landed society in Galway''. (Dublin: Éamonn de Búrca, 2012). : 40-41